Here's a great way to get a head start without using any toxic or dangerous chemicals... for a healthy garden and a healthy lifestyle for you and your plants. Whether you're starting tomatoes, peas or your favorite flowers, you can speed up the sprouting process and protect your seedlings from mildews and molds with simple hydrogen peroxide.

For wet sprouting (when using a flat surface and wet paper towel or other cloth) simply spray the outer surface of the damp material enclosing the seeds with a 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution once a day after remoistening the sprouting seeds.

If you're using seed starter peat pots or other soil-based sprouting media, add 1/4 volume of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide to the water before watering the sprouts.

Using hydrogen peroxide in the watering and sprouting material will eliminate fuzzy molds and bacteria which often attack sprouting seeds. It will also speed up the sprouting process sometimes by as much as half.

If your sprouting seeds already have a fuzzy mold or growth don't despair, instead rinse the sprouts in a 3 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide and then reset in clean sprouting media. Before returning the sprouts to the tray or sprouting container wash it thoroughly with hot soapy water and then dry.

Which ever method you prefer to use, you'll have stronger healthier and more successful sprouting results when you supplement your watering with hydrogen peroxide. Don't forget to support those transplants when you move them into the garden later on in the season as well.

Continue to supplement watering with hydrogen peroxide even after the sprouts are up and beginning to grow. You can also use a straight 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution to spray foliage, bark and blooms if you notice any kind of bacterial attack on your plants.